- Gary Johnson was born January 1, 1953 in Minot, ND to Lorraine B. (née Bostow) and Earl W. Johnson.

- Gary Johnson: “The war on drugs is a miserable failure. “50% of the money for prisons and courts is spent on drugs. What we’re doing isn’t working.” But when a highly-publicized bill was coming through the legislature, which would have allowed early release of prisoners due to overcrowding, Johnson stated: “When the bill passed, I vetoed it. Some representatives (including a few who were potential allies for me) were outraged because it made them look soft on criminals.”

- Gary Johnson: “We built a couple of new, private prisons in NM. We had prisoners housed out of state, and the federal court system had been running prisons in NM under a consent decree since 1980. We are now out from under that consent decree.”

- Gary Johnson on death penalty: In 1994 Gary Johnson was elected NM Governor, campaigning as a strong proponent of the death penalty. Over the years, Johnson has altered his position. In 1996 Johnson said that he would favor the death penalty for children as young as 13 and 14 in some circumstances, and limiting appeals. In Oct. 2001, Johnson states, "Swift and sure punishment deters crime," Johnson wrote. "Currently, I do not believe that New Mexico's death penalty serves as an effective preventative measure because it is neither swift or sure." In Oct. 2001, Johnson writes, "Those opposed to the death penalty point out the disparities that exist with regard to individuals receiving the death penalty sentence. They argue persuasively that these disparities are a result of several factors including prosecutorial discretion as well as racial and economic discrimination." In Dec. 2001, Governor Johnson stated that he was wrong to propose limits on death row appeals.

- Gary Johnson: Federal funds & state involvement in fatherhood initiatives. Johnson adopted the National Governors Association policy: Any new federal funding stream designated for fatherhood initiatives should be coordinated with existing fatherhood programs, as well as with other federal funds that can be used for fatherhood initiatives, such as TANF.

- When Gary Johnson was asked, What is behind your support of NAFTA? Johnson responded, “My opinion is that the jobs we're talking about are those we generally don't want. There is shifting, and some companies have relocated to Mexico. But we've benefited far more than we have lost.”

- Gary Johnson: “If you limit contributions from an individual to, say, $1000, then I think just the opposite occurs. Then you have politicians beholden to way too many people.” In 2010, Johnson said he favored unlimited contributions by corporations as well.

- Gary Johnson: Supports a woman's right to choose and wants to keep abortion legal.

- Gary Johnson wants an end to the practice of indefinite detention of the detainees at Guantanamo Bay but does not favor closing the Guantanamo Bay detention camp.

____

Gary Johnson’s Strange Foreign Policy:

While Johnson positions himself as a strong anti-war candidate who wants to cut the defense budget by 43 percent, he told TheDC that he supports America’s efforts to aid African troops in tracking down Lord’s Resistance Army leader Joseph Kony and that he wouldn’t rule out leaving behind American bases in Afghanistan.

Johnson said that while he wants to end the war in Afghanistan, that doesn’t mean he would necessarily stop drone attacks against terrorists in Pakistan or Yemen, even though he believes they create more enemies than they kill.

“I would want to leave all options on the table,” Johnson said.

Johnson said that while he favors withdrawing or reducing American forces based in Europe and the Far East, the Middle East is a region of the world the U.S. should remain in.

“Where strategically should we be?” he asked.

“You would think that strategically we should be in the Middle East. Should we be in the Philippines? I’m just saying that this isn’t going to be a wholesale — a 43 percent reduction, in my opinion, gets us back to 2003 funding levels and just wrings out the excess.”

Last year, The Weekly Standard reported that Johnson told the publication that he supported the concept of waging wars for humanitarian reasons despite wanting to cut the military budget by nearly half. Asked whether he stood by that, Johnson said he did.

“I don’t want to close the door that if any of us were president of the United States that we would sit idly by and watch something like the Holocaust go down,” he said.

“I don’t want to close the door on the United States involving themselves and putting a stop to that. Can we spend money on that? Yeah, I think so.”

He also noted that his mission would have differed from the current one in that he would have asked for volunteers from the military to undertake it with a more belligerent plan to “wipe ‘em out.”

“Well Congress passed the legislation to authorize us intervening, Obama signed the legislation and then eight months later we have an advisory force that goes in,” he said. “I think if I would have signed the legislation that I would have had plans to immediately ask for a volunteer force and gone in and wipe ‘em out.

Rep. Justin Amash (R-Mich.), frequently called "the next Ron Paul" and the only libertarian in Congress, has attacked Libertarian Party presidential nominee Gary Johnson on his Facebook page for Johnson's support of subsidies for the movie industry. Amash linked to a Politifact story from mid-July on Johnson's support of film credits while governor of New Mexico. Then let loose.

This appears to be the first time Amash has gone after Johnson publicly. Amash told me that although he endorsed Ron Paul in the primary, and will make no other endorsements, he will support the GOP nominee after the RNC convention.

Johnson's campaign said he was unavailable for comment on the Amash Facebook post but noted that Johnson has defended the policy in the past. In the Politifact story he stands up for his signing of the legislation saying that New Mexico has become a "second Hollywood". Politifact rated this as "half-true" saying that New Mexico is probably closer to third or fourth behind New York and Louisiana and that the film credits helped make it "player in the movie industry."

Gary Johnson criticizes Obama for leaving gay marriage up to the states (http://www.garyjohnson2012.com/gary-johnson-criticizes-obama-for-throwing-gay-marriage-to-the-states)

May 10, 2012, New York, NY – Libertarian nominee for President and former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson today said he’s “disappointed” with President Obama’s position on gay marriage. Obama told ABC Wednesday he would let each individual state decide the gay marriage question instead of seeking federal protection of the right to marry. Johnson noted that more than 30 states already ban same sex marriage in one way or another.

In a statement, Johnson said, “Instead of insisting on equality as a U.S. Constitutional guarantee, the President has thrown this question back to the states. When the smoke clears, Gay Americans will realize the President’s words have gained them nothing today, and that millions of Americans in most states will continue to be denied true marriage equality . I guess the President is still more worried about losing Ohio, Colorado, North Carolina and Virginia than he is in doing the right thing. What is the President saying — that he would eat a piece of cake at a gay wedding if the state the happy couple lives in allows it ?. Where is the leadership? While I commend him for supporting the concept of gay marriage equality, I am profoundly disappointed in the President.”

While Johnson positions himself as a strong anti-war candidate who wants to cut the defense budget by 43 percent, he told TheDC that he supports America’s efforts to aid African troops in tracking down Lord’s Resistance Army leader Joseph Kony and that he wouldn’t rule out leaving behind American bases in Afghanistan.

Johnson said that while he wants to end the war in Afghanistan, that doesn’t mean he would necessarily stop drone attacks against terrorists in Pakistan or Yemen, even though he believes they create more enemies than they kill.

“I would want leave all options on the table,” Johnson said.

“But there’s an unintended consequence when it comes to drone attacks in Yemen,” he continued. “Yeah, you take out the al-Qaida stronghold, but you also wipe out the other half of the block. That makes Yemenis against the United States for the rest of their lives and all their descendants.”

But if Johnson plans on leaving Afghanistan, how does he plan to leave the option of a drone campaign against al-Qaida elements in Pakistan on the table?

“So now you have the U.S. bases that exist in those areas, do we shut down those military bases? Perhaps not,” he suggested, taking an odd position for a supposed anti-war candidate.

“I would completely withdraw our military presence,” he further expounded. “Does withdrawing our military presence from Afghanistan mean that we would still have a base open in Afghanistan if they allowed us to keep a base open? Perhaps.”

Johnson said that while he favors withdrawing or reducing American forces based in Europe and the Far East, the Middle East is a region of the world the U.S. should remain in.

“Where strategically should we be?” he asked.

“You would think that strategically we should be in the Middle East. Should we be in the Philippines? I’m just saying that this isn’t going to be a wholesale — a 43 percent reduction, in my opinion, gets us back to 2003 funding levels and just wrings out the excess.”

Last year, The Weekly Standard reported that Johnson told the publication that he supported the concept of waging wars for humanitarian reasons despite wanting to cut the military budget by nearly half. Asked whether he stood by that, Johnson said he did.

“I don’t want to close the door that if any of us were president of the United States that we would sit idly by and watch something like the Holocaust go down,” he said.

“I don’t want to close the door on the United States involving themselves and putting a stop to that. Can we spend money on that? Yeah, I think so.”

One intervention Johnson said he supports is the U.S. mission to help capture Joseph Kony, the leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army, which Johnson believes is arguably the “worst terrorist” group in the world.

“Based on what I know, yes,” Johnson said, indicating his support for the mission to capture Kony.

“Based on what I understand about it, that arguably this is the worst terrorist group that’s been on the planet for the last 20 years.”

He also noted that his mission would have differed from the current one in that he would have asked for volunteers from the military to undertake it with a more belligerent plan to “wipe ‘em out.”

“Well Congress passed the legislation to authorize us intervening, Obama signed the legislation and then eight months later we have an advisory force that goes in,” he said. “I think if I would have signed the legislation that I would have had plans to immediately ask for a volunteer force and gone in and wipe ‘em out.

Justin Amash Criticizes Gary Johnson for Supporting Film Subsidies in New Mexico (http://reason.com/blog/2012/08/12/justin-amash-goes-after-gary-johnson)

Rep. Justin Amash (R-Mich.), frequently called "the next Ron Paul" and the only libertarian in Congress, has attacked Libertarian Party presidential nominee Gary Johnson on his Facebook page for Johnson's support of subsidies for the movie industry. Amash linked to a Politifact story from mid-July on Johnson's support of film credits while governor of New Mexico. Then let loose:

This appears to be the first time Amash has gone after Johnson publicly. Amash told me that although he enorsed Ron Paul in the primary, and will make no other endorsements, he will support the GOP nominee after the RNC convention.

Johnson's campaign said he was unavailable for comment on the Amash Facebook post but noted that Johnson has defended the policy in the past. In the Politifact story he stands up for his signing of the legislation saying that New Mexico has become a "second Hollywood". Politifact rated this as "half-true" saying that New Mexico is probably closer to third or fourth behind New York and Louisiana and that the film credits helped make it "player in the movie industry."

FSU63

12-30-2013, 04:51 PM

Private prisons do NOT work. Just look at the GEO Group.

Feeding the Abscess

12-30-2013, 08:01 PM

Private prisons do NOT work. Just look at the GEO Group.

Because they aren't really private. They rely on state laws, regulations, and even funding. Private profit, public funding. True fascism.

enoch150

01-08-2014, 05:48 PM

Rep. Justin Amash (R-Mich.), frequently called "the next Ron Paul" and the only libertarian in Congress, has attacked Libertarian Party presidential nominee Gary Johnson on his Facebook page for Johnson's support of subsidies for the movie industry. Amash linked to a Politifact story from mid-July on Johnson's support of film credits while governor of New Mexico. Then let loose.

This appears to be the first time Amash has gone after Johnson publicly. Amash told me that although he endorsed Ron Paul in the primary, and will make no other endorsements, he will support the GOP nominee after the RNC convention.

Johnson's campaign said he was unavailable for comment on the Amash Facebook post but noted that Johnson has defended the policy in the past. In the Politifact story he stands up for his signing of the legislation saying that New Mexico has become a "second Hollywood". Politifact rated this as "half-true" saying that New Mexico is probably closer to third or fourth behind New York and Louisiana and that the film credits helped make it "player in the movie industry."

The politico article was about a 15% film production tax credit and Johnson's claim that it turned New Mexico into the 2nd Hollywood. Nothing at all wrong with a tax credit. Politico gave Johnson a "half-truth" on it because it did turn New Mexico into a major player in the film industry, but it definitely wasn't second (New York) or even third (Louisiana). Johnson exaggerated, but it's hard to knock him for a tax cut.